Luke’s parents, Lindsay Burton (front right), and Paul Burton (back right) were also librarians.


their public health teams. Other people have a real strength around heritage and culture, other people, it’s customer service and digital.”


“The question is how do you then provide people working in libraries with these skills? Yes, the buildings are brilliant and the infrastructure is important, but it’s nothing without the people.”


So far the sector has managed to meet these challenges but the aim is to make the­processes­for­gap­filling­more­coher- ent and sustainables.


Consumers of creators?


AI is a ‘live’ example of how a changing world will put pressure on public librar- ies­to­fill­more­gaps.­Luke­thinks­the­ impact of AI is much “clearer or much more concrete for people in knowledge management and academia in terms of what it’s going to do for them. For pub- lic libraries though, it feels as if there’s definitely­a­role­for­their­softer­skills.” He­sees­libraries­filling­the­imme- diate gaps, as they always have done. That has ranged from how to set up an email account to providing code clubs. With AI he thinks they will have a role in helping people “understand what they’re asking it (generative AI), how it’s coming to its answer and being crit- ical about and what it is that comes out. So, I think public libraries have a role to play in providing a safe space for people to do that.”


That’s just one example of a gap, the question­is­how­to­turn­that­gap-fill- ing power into a sustainable business


July-August 2023


model. With the AI example, yes there are lots of interesting risks and opportuni- ties that libraries can help communities address, but Luke says: “The danger with AI and other emerging technology is that libraries end up as consumers of content rather than creators and owners of con- tent. They just end up licensing products. The question is how can they actually be involved in the creation, testing, building and­implementation­of­AR,­VR,­artificial­ intelligence, emerging technologies? “It’s challenging for librarians to con- template a question like this when they’re trying to do the day job. That’s where the Arts Council comes in as a sector develop- ment organisation. How do we equip libraries to be on the front foot when it comes to those things? To have sight of what’s coming”


Consumers of creators? “It’s back to that advocacy piece, that libraries aren’t always the answer, but they are often potentially part of the answer or part of the solution. If it’s new and emerg- ing technology, how do you ensure that it’s people centred? How do you ensure that it’s accessible? How do you ensure that it’s fit­for­purpose?­Public­libraries­are­often­ the only community or public facing space in a community.”


He gives recommendation lists and personalised reading lists as an example. “Being able to say ‘you’ve read this book,


so you may like that book’ is something that libraries are interested in. It is a form of AI or certainly a form of machine learn- ing. And projects like Ask For A Book, which Leeds library are leading on – and is one that we’re funding – is a recom- mendation tool. But there’s an actual human behind that part of the process so there’s still the library skill in there being promoted alongside the machine.” He says that potential lies in bringing technology-rich parts of the public sector into contact with human-rich public libraries.


“For example, Leeds University has access to technology that a library service doesn’t have the resource to buy. But by coming together you can provide access to the audiences and the soft customer skills and bring that technical expertise along- side it and work in partnership. “It’s an aspiration we’ve talked about, to broker relationships for library services that don’t have the resources with the academic sector and the public sector – talking to people about what it is that they’re trying to do and building relation- ships through the libraries across cities like Leeds.


“The Arts Council can support public facing projects that support communities, we’re also keen to understand where there are R&D gaps in the sector and between organisations in the sector, and how can we help.” IP


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 35


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